4-Year-Old Beaten to Death Highlights CPS Concerns

A 4-year old girl beaten to death in Grand Prairie is highlighting issues within Child Protective Services. (Published Wednesday, April 6, 2016)

A 4-year old girl beaten to death in Grand Prairie is highlighting issues within Child Protective Services.

Leiliana Wright died on March 13 from blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen. Wright’s mother and the mother's boyfriend are charged in connection with her death.

“I've had to work cases like this before. So, seeing this, it obviously triggers a lot of feelings for me about just how hard the work is,” said Dimple Patel, a former CPS investigator and supervisor.

In 2014, Patel left the agency to work for the child advocacy group, TexProtects. As a policy analyst, her mission is to now fix the problems she found with her former employer, many of which she felt made it difficult to properly protect kids in North Texas.

In Wright’s case, the 4-year-old’s paternal grandparents have said they complained to three CPS case workers about her mother, Jeri Quezada.

Quezada gave birth to her daughter while serving time for a burglary conviction in 2012.

While she was away, Wright lived with the grandparents. But in 2013, Quezada was paroled and they tried to work out a visitation agreement. However, eventually, the issue was taken to court. Wright’s grandparents filed for custody in 2014, but it was awarded to Quezada.